PATENT
Law No. 4 of 1962 deals with the registration of
patents and industrial models in Kuwait. The Patent Office in Kuwait
was opened in 1995, in response to a resolution by the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) states for a unified patent registration
system for the member countries. The regional office for the Gulf
Cooperation Council comprises of the States of United Arab Emirates,
State of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sultanate of Oman, State of
Qatar, and State of Kuwait and certificates of Patents granted by the
GCC Patent Office secure legal protection of the inventor's rights in
all Member States.
The Kuwaiti government is presently actively
involved in preparing a draft law for the protection of patents to
replace the existing law. In order to comply with the terms of Annex
1C of the WTO Treaty (the "TRIPPS Agreement") the law was
amended per law No 3 of 2001.
As per the recent amendments responsibility for patents is with the
Under Secretary for Trade and Industry and the term of patents has
been extended to twenty years from filing, with renewal fees being due
every four years. For patents registered in foreign countries the
validity period for such patent in Kuwait shall be the remaining
unexplored period in the country of registration. Furthermore, new
penalties for patent infringement have been adopted by the government
including the possibility of imprisonment for up to two years. The new
law also extends the period of protection of 'designs' for an initial
period of ten years with the option of renewal for a further period of
five years and promote protection of 'utility models' for a period of
seven years from filing and also provides for the protection of
integrated circuits as a type of design. No examination is conducted
in Kuwait for a patent application.
Filling requirements:
- Power of Attorney legalized
upto the Kuwaiti Consulate.
- Two copies of the specifications in
English with Arabic translation.
- Two sets of formal drawings plus
two sets without any Latin numerals or words.
- Certificate of
Incorporation legalized upto the Kuwaiti Consulate.
- Assignment from
the inventor(s) legalized upto the Kuwaiti Consulate.
- Priority document, if priority is claimed legalized upto the Kuwaiti Consulate
Assignment Requirements:
- Power of Attorney that has been signed by the assignee and legalized upto the Kuwaiti Consulate,
- Deed of Assignment, signed by both parties and legalized upto the Kuwaiti Consulate.
Read about Copyrights, Trademarks
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